The Oregon State Beavers fell to the Oregon Ducks 80-67 in what is the end to the school’s first PAC-12 season during a pandemic.

In the Beavers’ second match-up with the Oregon Ducks this season, after winning the first game in late January, it proved to be a tough outing for Oregon State due to that of the tough backcourt defense the Ducks were applying throughout the whole game. 

Entering this game with a record of 14-11, the Beavers had the chance to knock the Ducks out of PAC-12 Championship contention. Although they never had the lead, the Beavers were able to make things tough on Oregon, chipping the Ducks’ lead down to five late in the first half, before the score eventually fell to them being down 31-44 at halftime.

At the half, senior guard Jarod Lucas Beavs scored 10 points for the Beavs while hitting two three-pointers during that stretch. Junior forward Warith Alatishe did what he does best under the rim, which resulted in him scored 11 points to lead the Beavers in scoring through the break. For the Ducks, junior guard Will Richardson lead the game in scoring with 17 points at the half with help from senior forward LJ Figueroa and his 10 tough points which he earned through offensive rebounds and aggressive under-the-rim play.

The game carried a very similar pattern throughout. The Ducks would reach a lead of about ten to twelve points, the Beavers would be slowly but surely start to come back with a stretch of a couple three pointers in key situations. And although the deficit would start to look smaller, the Ducks were always able to regain their lead quickly with tough and aggressive defense being played on all of the 92 feet of the court, capitalizing on the Beavers’ turnovers and offensive possessions which did not turn into points.

To end the game, both Ethan Thompson and Jarod Lucas scored 14 points which led the Beavers in scoring, while Oregon’s Will Richardson only scored three points in the second half, increasing his team-high scoring total to 20 points.

As a team, the Beavers shot poorly from three-point range on four for 17 from beyond the arc, while the Ducks thrived from deep, making 15 of their 23 attempts. The Beavers will have a chance to bounce back from their loss in the PAC-12 Tournament, beginning on Mar. 10 in Las Vegas, NV.